Talk with your health care providers about which treatment guidelines they use. Since there’s often a lag time between the latest research and guideline updates, most providers prefer to base their treatment on the latest research.

In 2013, the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academy of Sciences (formerly the Institutes of Medicine) released a set of recommendations (below) on improving cancer care in the U.S. The report, Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis recommended improvements to fix shortcomings that add cost and burden to cancer care. Susan G. Komen® was one of 13 organizations that sponsored this study.

The report identified key ways to improve quality of care:

Ensure cancer patients are engaged and understand their diagnoses so they can make informed treatment decisions with their health care providers

Develop a trained and coordinated workforce of cancer professionals

Focus on evidence-based care, using information technology to provide better information about the potential benefits of treatments